Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Voices That Matter is a professional conference/convention series geared towards creative, business and IT practitioners. The Voices That Matter Conference Series puts emphasis on its opportunities for learning from and networking with leaders within the industry''s community. The conference format consists of conversations rather than the more traditional keynote speeches. Conference speakers include Jakob Nielsen, Joshua Bloch, Billy Hoffman and Steve Krug, author of the Don''t Make Me Think series. Voices That Matter is organized and produced by international media company Pearson (NYSE: PSO) and was founded by Pearson imprint New Riders in 2007.A large number of conference speakers are authors that have been published by Pearson Technology Group, a division of Pearson Education.

The Bank of Ireland (Irish: Banc na hÉireann) (ISEQ: BKIR. LSE: BKIR, NYSE: IRE) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, today Bank of Ireland is number two to Allied Irish Banks. The Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At the core of the modern-day group is the old Bank of Ireland, the ancient institution established by Royal Charter in 1783. The Bank of Ireland should not be confused with the Central Bank of Ireland, as it is a commercial bank and not the Irish central bank, as its name might suggest.

Bell Canada, commonly shortened to "Bell", is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories, and a leading competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) in the western provinces. In a majority of its service territory, Bell Canada's principal competition is Rogers Communications. Bell Canada currently services over 13 million phone lines. It is headquartered in Verdun, Montreal, Quebec. Bell Canada is the main remaining asset of BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE), also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, a former conglomerate operating in a variety of businesses. BCE ranks number 224 on the Forbes Global 2000 list (2008 edition). In 2007, BCE accepted a purchase offer from a group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, but in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, the resulting corporate structure (including the debt load that would have been assumed) was deemed to not meet necessary solvency criteria, and the takeover was cancelled.

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Och-Ziff Capital Management Group (NYSE: OZM) is a global hedge fund and alternative asset management firm. As of November 4, 2008, the firm had approximately $28.3 billion of assets under management. The firm operates multiple investment strategies, including merger arbitrage, convertible arbitrage, equity restructuring, credit and distressed investments, private investments and real estate. As of September 2008, Och-Ziff employed 150 investment professionals from its headquarters in New York and offices in London, Hong Kong, Bangalore, Tokyo, and Beijing.

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Thomson Reuters is an information company created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: TRI) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TRI). Thomson Reuters is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, USA. The Woodbridge Company, a holding company for the Thomson family of Canada, owns 53% of the group, which operates in 93 countries, and has over 50,000 employees.

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC, though commonly referred to as Orbital) is a company which specializes in satellite launch and manufacture. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems. Orbital formerly owned ORBIMAGE (now GeoEye) and the Magellan line of GPS receivers, though they are now divested (the latter to Thales). Orbital's NYSE ticker symbol is ORB. It has its headquarters in the Dulles area of unincorporated Loudoun County, Virginia, United States.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) is a credit enhancement company, offering mortgage insurance, financial guaranty insurance for public finance, asset-backed and structured finance transactions, reinsurance and other financial services. Radian is the third-largest publicly traded mortgage insurer in the United States. The company is headquartered in Philadelphia, with operations in New York City, London and Hong Kong. It generates nearly one-third of its net income from non-mortgage insurance businesses. The company''s key executives are S.A. Ibrahim (chief executive officer of Radian Group), Rick Altman (Chief Admin Officer Admin/HR), David Beidler (President Radian Asset), Teresa Bryce (President MI Operations), Lawrence DelGatto (EVP Information Technology), Rick Gillespie (SVP MI Operations), Edward Hoffman (SVP Legal), Bob Quint (EVP Finance), James Sookiasian (SVP Admin/HR), and Scott Theobald (EVP Risk Management). The company has over 1,000 employees.

Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) is an international bookseller based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Borders is the second-largest bookstore chain in the United States (after Barnes & Noble), selling a wide variety of books, CDs, DVDs, and periodicals, as well as gifts and stationery. In 2004, Borders reached an agreement with Starbucks subsidiary Seattle's Best Coffee to operate the cafes in its domestic superstores under the Seattle's Best brand name. In 2008, Borders Group's total revenue was US $3.82 billion, of which $2.63 billion came from Borders Superstores, $2.00 billion from books, $480 million from Waldenbooks Specialty Retail, $622 million from alternative markets, $371 million from music/DVDs, and $284 million from periodicals. As of 2009, there are 517 Borders stores in the United States, and approximately 466 stores in the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment, including Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders airport stores, and Borders Outlet. During the autumn and winter months, Borders also operates calendar stores and mall kiosks under the Day By Day Calendar Company name.

The Blackstone Group, L.P. (NYSE: BX) is an alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), restructuring, and fund-placement advisory services. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyout transactions over the last decade while its real estate business has been an active acquirer of commercial real estate. Since inception, Blackstone has completed investments in such notable companies as Hilton Worldwide, Equity Office Properties, Apria Healthcare, Republic Services, AlliedBarton, United Biscuits, Freescale Semiconductor and Travelport. The firm was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc.